Lunch with The Senator

Senator McCain came through town on his "Thank You" tour. About 25 of us in Havasu were invited to lunch with him, and he spoke briefly. It was nice to have a good number of people out to Waldo's who had never been there before. I was sure to greet everyone and ask if they'd ever been to the restaurant. Of course I suggested the "Half a chicken" lunch. That's my favorite.

Havasu's Awesome

We made the national news this week, but not because we're awesome and wonderful. We had a shooting over the weekend and six people are dead as a result.
This guy Brian, who is known around here for his shady business deals and his horrible temper, took a gun to his ex's house and shot up everyone inside. He and his ex had been separated for quite some time, and she had a restraining order against him. She had custody of their two little kids, and apparently that was not acceptable in his book.
Instead of fighting it out in court, he decided to go over to her house on Saturday night while she was having a birthday party. He opened the front door and began shooting.
The people inside didn't know Brian, probably didn't know of all the problems he had been causing for his ex--they were there because it was someone's birthday. When you hear of a shooting like this you automatically think that there were drugs involved, or some sort of gang activity. Nope. Not this time. It was a deranged person who had no respect for life.

Who did he shoot? Two 20-year olds, named Broc and Ashleigh. Ashleigh's parents were there--Russ and Debbi Nyland. I've known Russ, Debbi, and their daughter Ashleigh for a few years now. They were involved in a lot of lake activities and events, and everyone always noticed what a close family they were. Brian also shot his ex Deborah and her new boyfriend Primo. They were just 23 years old.
Debbi survived and managed to call 911 on her cell phone once Brian left the house with his two little kids. She's expected to recover, but I can't imagine how awful it must be to lay in the hospital knowing that her husband and her daughter died because of that stupid situation. They're gone--just like that.

Brian ran to California with his kids, and shot himself after he got the kids over to his sister's house. Six people died because this guy couldn't get his act together. What a monster.

Debbi's lost the love of her life and her daughter--who may as well have been her best friend. And there's a lot of people in our community who are walking around really sad right now because they lost a friend in that house on Saturday night.

Here's Debbi and I, at a boat regatta out on the lake--goofing off of course:

Quick Day Trip To Williams

The Valle Airport is about 25 minutes north of Williams, Arizona, and that puts it very very close to the entrance to the Grand Canyon. We heard about an annual air show that's every August, so we decided to hop in the car (too windy for the plane) and see what we could explore up there.
It was glorious weather, about 76 degrees. But the wind was blowing at about 30 mph and that made it seem even cooler out there. What a contrast to the searing heat we've had in Havasu for the past month.

We got up there a little late, because we didn't realize the show had a closing time of 3pm. All the cars on display had left, and so did the farm tractors. But the planes were there and the Mustang was still out giving rides for $50.

The gentleman who owns this airfield just south of the Grand Canyon has a magnificent collection of old military planes and crop dusters, so we were happy to see those.







This Ford Tri-Motor is a very old one, built in the 1920's. The Grand Canyon Scenic Tours used to give rides in one starting in 1929.



But I think our biggest thrill was the Mustang. It was doing fly-by's as we arrived and it's a very loud fast plane.

Aha!

I was finally able to catch some lightning on camera!

Storm Watch 2010

Each summer I activate Storm Watch. I've done so since I was 16 years old, working out on the lake during Monsoon Season. Theoretically, the monsoons down in the ocean kick up some moisture and push it towards Arizona in the months of July and August. In years past this has resulted in HUGE storms with heavy sudden rainfall and flooding for our community. The desert doesn't soak up the water--it runs it off into washes and down streets. The lightning and thunder and magnificent, and we enjoy a brief respite from the 115 degree heat when these storms build up in the afternoon.

Alas, for several years now we've been in a drought and we haven't had the great storms to cool us off in the hottest of the summer months.

This year has been particularly disappointing because we have had NOT ONE INCH of measurable rain since May. Not even clouds. Nothing, that is, till this week. We finally got a little thrill from Mother Nature. And Storm Watch, 2010 was activated.

Here's our household weather center. The kitchen window with the laptop right next to it displaying the satellite weather map:



We anticipate the clouds, the thunder....



We run outside gleefully as the clouds open up and produce......



Then we slowly make our way back inside as we realize that the rain is not coming anywhere near us.

Last night was neat, though, because we had thunder and lightning for several hours. Steve and I fell asleep with the blinds open in the bedroom so we could watch the flashes.
Of course I tried to photograph them. Didn't work out. Gotta have a much better camera for lightning photography.

I Know What Hot Is!

Yesterday was Primary Elections Day for Arizona, and it included my City Council run. It was ALSO one of the hottest days of the year for us. I got going at 5:30am, so I could get ready and go campaign at the polling places. I earned many votes from people who were undecided as they walked in, and I met many people who had already intended to vote for me.
What a neat experience, but WOW what a hot one. It was nearly 120 degrees, and there was no shade once we got to high noon. But I had to do it!

The votes are being verified now, but it looks like I managed to earn 41% of the votes cast and I needed 50% to earn an automatic seat on the Council. So that means I get to duke it out with the other challengers for the General Election in November.

I've already established a new campaign strategy, and my friends are rallying behind me to help me WIN in November!

Thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far. This has been a huge challenge and we'll all have a reason to celebrate when we get to the finish line.

THANKS!!!

Picnic Time

The Mohave County Republican Picnic each August is held up in the Hualapai Mountains and serves as a fundraiser for our county party. It's always a lot of effort to get people to come because the location is so remote. But this year we sent out the invitations to the candidates--Federal, State Level, and Local, and we were inundated with candidates.

So someone had the idea of gathering all the candidates for a photo. Only thing, you couldn't fit us all into one photo. There must've been 50 candidates.



I am standing next to Havasu's Mayor, and next to him on the left is Governor Jan Brewer. She has her head turned.
Some were candidates who haven't had the opportunity to campaign in Mohave County very much, and I was glad to see them. In fact, I made sure to shake hands with EVERY candidate and I also thanked them for making the trip to our event. Some said they were thrilled to take part in the BIGGEST campaign event right before the Primary Elections (which are tomorrow, by the way) and some were surprised that I'd be thanking THEM for coming. By this time of year, most groups are sick of hearing from candidates and want nothing to do with them.

The Sheriff's Dept was kind enough to have a K-9 Unit demonstration, and that was quite interesting:



And of course we heard from our Governor. She's always entertaining...



All the candidates had the opportunity to address the crowd, and they did just that. Some spoke for twelve minutes ( excruciating ) and some spoke for less than one minute ( love that!! )

Normally we close things down at 2pm, but because of all the speeches we didn't get done till almost 4pm. At least it was nice weather!